Elementary School Ponders Drug Testing Youngsters

Here’s a story that should make your head spin: Officials at an elementary school in N.J. say the best way to ensure young children steer clear of drugs is to make them afraid of being randomly drug tested:

A proposal to conduct random drug tests of young students in one New Jersey town is raising some eyebrows.

Students at Belvidere Elementary School could be adding drug testing to their list of lessons when they move into middle school.

The Board of Education will vote Wednesday on a plan to randomly test sixth, seventh and eighth graders to see if they are under the influence of drugs. School administrators said they were confident the proposal would pass.

Elementary School Principal Sandra Szabocsik said school officials want to use the testing “as a deterrent.”

“We’re hoping that the students if they’re at say a party or someone’s house or just hanging out somewhere, that they’ll say ‘I don’t want to get involved in drinking or using any drug because tomorrow could be a drug testing day,'” she told CBS 2′s Christine Sloan.

The program is voluntary and both parents and students must consent. School officials said it was important to note that if a student tested positive, they would not be suspended or have the results sent to the police.

Instead, those students would get counseling or even be referred to a rehab facility …

2 responses to “Elementary School Ponders Drug Testing Youngsters”

A nice thought that might be effective in the long run. But isn’t it bad to scare them to become disciplined? I know things like that are done for their own sake, but I don’t want my kids to end up scared of many thing as they grow up. It is if they can’t live life the fullest, I am not saying that I agree for the use of drugs all I am saying is they should not be scared as they grow. Discipline is a matter of understanding.

And a matter best handled in the home. Boot camp and ‘tough love’ programs offered by third parties are a great way to either completely destroy a weaker child’s sense of self, or instill a deep and sinister resentment in the more willful. So.. good luck with that.

As far as drug testing? I’d say zero affect on the likely hood of future drug use, negligible in deterring or reversing use now, and extremely detrimental to parent child relationships. Not to mention the repercussions fear based decision making has in the long term.